


Welcome to the Jungle

by gtanddragons



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: G/T, Gen, Giant/Tiny, Macro/Micro, Team Bonding, minor instances of peril
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-10-04 18:42:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20475743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gtanddragons/pseuds/gtanddragons
Summary: Shiro winds up shrunken down on an unfamiliar planet. He'll have to rely on the help of his fellow paladins to make it through this situation, even if the entire thing feels like a massive affront to his pride as a leader.





	1. Request: tiny!Shiro

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AceTrainerHope](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceTrainerHope/gifts).

> Part 1 started as a request from Tumblr, and I was commissioned to make a part 2 to the story, so you get two chapters! Neat! Both parts will obviously have a bit of discrepancy on the quality, since I tend to put a lot more effort into commissions than I do requests/warm-ups. So chapter 2 is longer and just better overall imo.

_No.**  
**_

_No, this… this is a nightmare, he can’t-_

_He needs to think but he can’t and his mind is racing and this can’t be real it can’t-!_

“…iro? Shiro? Hey, Earth to Shiro! Where are you?!”

Shiro flinches as his helmet’s communicator goes off. His helmet had tumbled from his grip when… _whatever_ it was had struck him. It now rests a few feet away, but it’s more like a few yards away at this new height.

He doesn’t want to approach his helmet, doesn’t want to acknowledge the fact that his helmet is bigger than he is- or, following that train of logic, how big the other paladins are. He almost doesn’t want them to find him, doesn’t want to admit the truth to himself.

But he knows he has to alert them to his location. They won’t stop until they find him, and, well. He’s not sure how long he would survive on this unfamiliar planet. He hasn’t encountered any wildlife of the animal kind… yet. But, knowing his luck, that will probably change soon and he’ll find himself in a sticky situation without any backup.

So, with a fair bit of hesitation, he treks over to his helmet and sticks his mouth as close to the “microphone” as he can.

“Hello? Can anyone hear me?”

There’s a long moment of silence. Then, out of nowhere, a slew of several voices are clamoring all at once, asking a million questions in voices far too loud for his fine-tuned hearing.

Shiro winces and quickly stumbles away from his helmet, waiting for the chatter to die down, before hesitantly going back.

“Shiro? Hey, are you-?”

“Guys. Please be quieter, I…” Shiro winces. “I have a headache. And I’m kind of… having a situation over here.”

There’s another pause before Pidge finally pipes up. Her voice, much to Shiro’s relief, has been toned down quite a bit.

“What do you mean, ‘situation’? Shiro, are you okay? Where are you at?”

Shiro clicks his tongue awkwardly, grimacing. What is he supposed to say? _‘Hey, I’m tiny now’? ‘I randomly got shrunken down’? ‘Sorry that I can’t fly Black and now I’m essentially useless’?_

_…_

_Ughhh._

“I…” he mutters before speaking up into the microphone. “I can’t explain it over the comm system. I don’t know where I am, but… I definitely need some backup. Pidge, do you think you can trace my location from my helmet?”

He can practically hear her frowning, trying to piece together what was wrong, could hear the gears spinning rapid-fire in her head. However, she doesn’t ask- again, he feels extremely grateful towards the green paladin.

“Pfft, yeah, easy. Just give me a sec, and…”

After a few moments, Pidge lets out a soft, triumphant noise. “Alright, I’ve got your location pinpointed on the map! We’re heading your way now- looks like I’m the closest to you, so you’ll have to bear with my help for a bit. Guys, I’ll transfer the map over to your monitors.”

Shiro takes an uneasy breath before swallowing thickly. “Alright. Thanks, Pidge.”

“Sure thing, Shiro. See you in a few!”

Various noises of agreement from the other paladins sound over the comm system, causing his intestines to knot even further.

_He shouldn’t be afraid. He TRUSTS his teammates, certainly… but he really, really doesn’t want to be like this around them._

Shiro bites his lip before sitting by his helmet, goosebumps crawling up his skin.

Much as he doesn’t like the thought of being so tiny around his team, all he can do now is wait for them to arrive.

He just… really hopes that they can fix this mess as soon as possible.


	2. Comm; tiny!Shiro with a focus on Pidge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And here's the commissioned second half of this fic! Enjoy.~

_ Deep breath in, deep breath out. _

_ Good. Hold for four, exhale for four.  _

Shiro sighs and runs a hand over his face. Although he can’t tell for certain, he thinks it’s been about five minutes since contacting the other paladins— so Pidge would likely arrive at any minute now.

He’ll appreciate the help, but… he’s still bracing himself for the inevitable shock, both on his end and on Pidge’s. It’s not exactly every day that your leader gets shrunken down to about the size of… what, exactly? A mouse? Judging from his helmet, the only thing he’s even familiar with on this godforsaken planet, he’s probably about the size of one of the space mice.

_ ...Ugh. Deep… deep breaths. Stay calm. It’s fine, it’s going to be fine— _

Shiro’s shoulders stiffen up as a faint rustling sound draws his attention.

“...Pidge?” He calls tentatively. “Pidge, is that you?”

No response.

Shiro grimaces and quickly leans towards the speaker of his helmet, keeping a wary eye on his surroundings. “Are any of you nearby? I’m hearing noises.”

There’s an agonizingly long moment of silence.

“I’m still the closest to you, but I’m still at least a couple minutes away,” Pidge’s voice chirps over the intercom. “Whatever that noise is, stay on guard. We don’t have much information on this planet’s flora and fauna.”

The rustling returns, louder this time. Shiro’s breaths quicken, his Galra prosthetic lighting up with its familiar, eerie purple glow. 

“Alright,” Shiro breathes. “Pidge… I’m gonna need you to hurry. I’m not… gonna be able to fend off anything major. Not like this.”

“Wait, Shiro? Not like what—?”

Shiro pulls away from the helmet, arm at the ready as glowing eyes peer from the bushes before him. He can vaguely hear Pidge’s frantic calling behind him, but his focus is trained on the claws emerging from the undergrowth.

A long, thin, scaly snout, incredibly large, pointed ears, needle-sharp claws, and flickering, sky-blue eyes all greet Shiro at once, the creature letting out a rattling hiss as its three tails lash behind it.

“I’m assuming you’re not friendly,” Shiro mutters.

The creature lets out another vicious hiss before running towards Shiro, its ferret-like body moving impossibly fast. The black paladin growls and holds his ground, his arms up in a defensive stance. At the last second, as the creature lunges at him with its jaws wide open, Shiro jumps out of the way with his right arm outstretched.

A grim smirk tugs at the corners of his lips as the creature howls and the scent of burnt fur wafts to Shiro’s nose.

But he doesn’t have time to celebrate. No, he quickly turns on his heel, facing the creature head-on—

_ “SCRRREEEE!” _

Shiro grunts in pain as his body is knocked flying by a vicious swipe of the creature’s paw, hitting the ground roughly. He instinctively rolls to the side, narrowly avoiding getting a claw pierced through his armor’s chest plate. With another half-roll, Shiro is back on his feet and running like hell towards his helmet. He makes it within a few inches— to him, a few feet— before something snags on his jetpack and knocks him to the ground.

“PIDGE!” Shiro yells, clawing for purchase on the planet’s marshy ground. “Backup! Backup  _ now! _ ”

And then he’s roughly dragged backwards. 

He sharply turns his head, noting one of the claws hooked on his jetpack, dragging him back towards the creature’s waiting maw.

“Not today,” Shiro snarls, his hand flaring to life. With a fierce lunge, his hand grabs onto the creature’s claw, the searing heat easily slicing through the light, sharp material. The creature lets out a piercing wail, nearly causing Shiro to go down from the sheer, splitting noise alone— but he hauls himself back to his feet, darts forward, but he’s not fast enough, the teeth are coming at him and—

The beast lets out another hideous scream as a sharp-edged,  _ very _ familiar green edge slices into its side, leaving a sizeable gash before the blade retreats, snaking back into the bushes— and then the bayard’s owner steps out from the shadows, weapon still drawn and aimed at the creature.

Pidge’s eyes narrow. “Pick on someone your own size,” she growls, continuing to step closer towards the creature and Shiro.

The creature’s hackles rise, but it’s clearly not stupid— as soon as Pidge draws closer, it beats a hasty retreat back into the bushes, presumably to lick its wounds and find a less dangerous meal for the night.

Pidge stops to rest a hand on her knee, panting quietly. And then her gaze shifts down, down… a little further down… until it rests on Shiro. Her amber-brown eyes widen ever-so-slightly.

“So I didn’t, uh… realize this was what you meant.”

Shiro keeps an eye on the creature’s escape path even when it’s gone, wary of a surprise attack. But he soon meets Pidge’s gaze with a slightly anxious look on his face.

“...Yes. I’m… kind of having a predicament.”

The two stare at each other awkwardly before Pidge clears her throat and speaks into the comm system. “Hey guys, I found Shiro and got rid of the danger-- yeah, I mean. He’s… He’s, uh. Alright. But we have a slight problem-- no, he didn’t get poisoned. I don’t think so, anyways. He’s a little on the tiny side-- Lance, shut up-- no, no, not like that, I just…”

Pidge pauses to huff in frustration. “It’s hard to explain. Look, we’ll meet you back at the castle, okay?”

She pauses again in what Shiro can only assume as relief-- the others must have agreed-- before she bites her lip and focuses on Shiro.

“Okay, so I’m pretty sure you know this already, but, uh. I’m gonna have to carry you, otherwise we won’t be able to get back to the castle before nightfall.”

Shiro grimaces. Of course he’d realized that while he’d been waiting for Pidge, but it didn’t make things any easier.

Pidge quietly coughs before kneeling down. “So… how are we gonna do this?”

Shiro runs a hand over his face. And then he tentatively approaches Pidge. “Give me your hand,” he sighs, making a beckoning gesture. He nearly flinches when Pidge’s hand comes down and rests palm-up in front of him, but he manages to hold his ground.

_ Deep breaths, Shiro. You fought huge monsters in the Arena, and even bigger ones in Voltron. _

Regardless, he can’t help but feel a touch unnerved as he clumsily climbs up into Pidge’s hand-- as much as he trusts the green paladin, there’s something…  _ wrong _ about being so tiny in comparison to the smallest paladin, someone he was so used to towering over on a daily basis for the past few months, at least.

Pidge carefully lifts Shiro up once he’s steadied himself, her eyes wide with what can only be described as pure awe.

“This really shouldn’t be possible,” she mumbles as she straightens up. “It completely violates the square-cube law, although… your suit is likely regulating your body temperature so you’re not too cold, so maybe—“

Shiro crosses his arms and sighs. “Pidge, we can discuss the science of how this works when we get back to the castle, alright?”

Pidge clears her throat and adjusts her glasses with her free hand. “Sorry, sorry, you’re right.”

As she starts walking back towards the direction of the castle, Shiro grips onto her thumb to maintain his balance, still looking to be quite unnerved by the whole situation.

“Matt’s gonna freak,” Pidge eventually mumbles to herself, unable to resist a little gleam in her eyes. “It defies the known laws of physics, and… say, Shiro? What happened to… uh. Make you shrink, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Shiro opens his mouth to respond before clicking his tongue and frowning. “I… I don’t remember. I think-- no, I  _ know _ I was unconscious for at least a few minutes. There was a light, before I blacked out, but I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary when I came to.”

“And you feel alright?” Pidge questions, looking all the more intrigued by the minute.

“Aside from being extremely weirded out by this entire situation,” Shiro grumbles, “Yeah, I’m doing well enough, all things considered.” 

Pidge pauses. She’s never been the best at comforting-- that was more Lance’s forte than anything-- but she shoots him a small smile. “If it makes you feel any better, you have three of the smartest nerds in the galaxy here to help you, plus Allura and Coran might know something. I’m sure we’ll figure out some kind of cure soon, okay?”

As the castle comes into view, Shiro appears to shrink in on himself a little more, his shoulders automatically tensing. “...That would be highly appreciated, yes.”

Pidge winces sympathetically. Of course this entire situation was hard on him-- and, judging from the rustling of foliage nearby, it was about to get even harder. As Hunk and Lance come out into the clearing at about the same time, Pidge instinctively holds Shiro closer to her chest.

“Hey, Pidge!” Lance calls as he quickens his step. “Where’s Shiro?”

Shiro, still looking to be quite agitated, straightens up as much as he can in some instinctive reflex to make himself taller. And then he waves, raising his voice. “Right here, Lance.”

Both the blue paladin and the yellow paladin stop dead in their tracks, jaws all but dropping. And then they both immediately crowd closer, a clamor of questions and wide-eyed stares.

“Whoa, Pidge, really? That… that shouldn’t be possible, according to--”

“Holy crow, Shiro, how’d you get so small--?”

Pidge backs up a step, lifting up her other hand to shield Shiro from the overwhelming onslaught of voices. “Guys, c’mon! Take it easy, one question at a time.”

Shiro shudders and nearly cracks right then and there, a paralyzing sense of anxiety bubbling up in his chest as the three teens loom over him. At least they’ve quieted down and Pidge has lowered her hand, but he can’t tell what’s worse: the clamor of loud noises or the sudden shift to sympathetic looks the three are all shooting down at him.

“Shiro?”

Shiro blinks at the sound of Pidge’s voice, tilting his head in order to look up at the green paladin’s face. “...Mm?”

The look in her eyes is… surprisingly gentle. He’s seen that look before, seen it in the eyes of Sam and Matt alike. His shoulders lower slightly.

“Shiro, it’s gonna be okay,” Pidge murmurs encouragingly. “We’re not gonna make you do anything you don’t want to do. I can put you down, if you want, or… anything. Anything you want. I know this isn’t an ideal situation, but we’re a team. You can trust us-- we’re gonna do our best to find a cure for you, and in the meantime, we’ll do our best to make this whole…  _ thing _ a little more comfortable for you.”

His focus briefly darts to Lance and Hunk-- both nodding in affirmation and backing up to give Pidge and himself a little more space. Shiro swallows thickly before glancing back up at Pidge.

“...Thank you. All of you.” He does his best to pull a tired smile. “For now, you can… keep carrying me. I’m good.”

Pidge frowns, lifting her hand closer to eye-level. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I’m sure.”

And, surprisingly enough… he is.

Pidge was right. They’re all a team-- they’re his family. Of course he trusts them with his life.

Shiro straightens up, a determined glint in his eyes. “I don’t want to fall too far behind all of you, after all. We need to get going right away if we’re going to make this work. Pidge, I need you to bring me to Allura and Coran. We’re going to have to contact Keith so that he can serve as my stand-in while we get this fixed-- we don’t need any sneak attacks from the Galra catching us off-guard because I can’t pilot the Black Lion. Lance, Hunk? I need you two to get Matt. I’m sure if we all put our heads together, we can find out how and why this happened to me… and how to reverse it.”

A noticeable sense of relief lingers in the air, the three paladins at attention as they’re given orders; that’s their Shiro, alright, and it almost brings a sense of normalcy to this entire strange predicament.

As Pidge marches up to the entrance of the castle-- making sure to keep her hand steady for Shiro’s sake-- the black paladin sighs under his breath.

This was going to be a hassle to deal with, for sure, but at least he had his team by his side.

His family.


End file.
